Differential Dynamic Delivery Of Content Historically Likely To Be Viewed

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and computer program products are disclosed for differential dynamic content delivery. Typical embodiments include providing a session document for a presentation, wherein the session document includes a session grammar and a session structured document; receiving a prerecorded presentation control instruction; selecting from the session structured document a classified structural element in dependence upon the prerecorded presentation control instruction, in dependence upon user classifications of a user participant in the presentation, and in dependence upon a presentation history of the classified structural element; and presenting the selected structural element to the user. The presentation history further typically includes a classified structural element identifier; a user classification; a count of the number of times the classified structural element has been presented; and a count of the number of times the session document containing the classified structural element has been used in presentations.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation application of and claims priorityfrom U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/887,517 filed on Jul. 8, 2004

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically,methods, systems, and products for differential dynamic contentdelivery.

2. Description of Related Art

Multimedia presentations through conferencing systems are becoming morecommon, but they are inflexible because all conference participants mustbe presented with exactly the same content. For any particularpresentation, however, there is typically a wide variety of participantinterest, company, group, or department membership, technical knowledge,security authorization, and so on, across almost any dimension in whichparticipants may vary. Targeting content for such a heterogeneous set ofusers is typically a manual process today in which presenters createwholly separate presentations for each audience, and the content of eachsuch presentation is reduced to the lowest common denominator of anyparticular audience. There is a substantial need for improved multimediapresentation systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Methods, systems, and products are disclosed that operate generally tosupport improved multimedia presentations by creating a presentationdocument that includes a content-specific presentation grammar and astructured document. The structured document typically has structuralelements such as pages, paragraphs, cells, titles, and the like markedwith structural identifiers. A content-specific presentation grammarties presentation actions to the document structure through thesestructural element identifiers. A presentation actions directs thepresentation of a document such as by moving the presentation to thenext page of the document, the previous paragraph of the document and soon. A presentation grammar empowers a presenter to invoke thepresentation actions using speech.

In typical embodiments, users are assigned classifications describingany attributes of a user, company name, department name, age, gender,technical knowledge, educational level, subject matters of personalinterest, security authorization, and so on. Contents of structuralelements from structured documents are then filtered for presentation toindividual users in a multi-media, multi-user presentation according tothe individual attributes of the participants.

In a presentation regarding marketing of a deep space vehicle for a Marsmission, for example, graphic images and paragraphs of text may bedeveloped in many versions, inserted into the same presentation documentwith each version classified according to technical level, securitylevel, and so on, so that a member of the marketing department viewingthe same paragraph at the same time in the same presentation as a memberof the research department will in fact be shown a different version ofthe paragraph. A graphic diagram of a subsystem presented to themarketer will be a simpler version than the one shown at the same timeto the researcher.

More particularly, methods, systems, and computer program products aredisclosed for differential dynamic content delivery. Typical embodimentsinclude providing a session document for a presentation, wherein thesession document includes a session grammar and a session structureddocument; receiving a prerecorded presentation control instruction;selecting from the session structured document a classified structuralelement in dependence upon the prerecorded presentation controlinstruction, in dependence upon user classifications of a userparticipant in the presentation, and in dependence upon a presentationhistory of the classified structural element; and presenting theselected structural element to the user. The presentation historyfurther typically includes a classified structural element identifier; auser classification; a count of the number of times the classifiedstructural element has been presented; and a count of the number oftimes the session document containing the classified structural elementhas been used in presentations. In typical embodiments, selecting aclassified structural element includes calculating a historicalpresentation rate for the classified structural element and comparingthe historical presentation rate to a historical presentation ratethreshold.

Many embodiments also include creating a prerecorded presentationsession, including repeatedly: recording a presentation controlinstruction and recording a time stamp in association with thepresentation control instruction. Typical embodiments also includecreating the presentation control instruction, including receiving froma user participating in the presentation a key phrase and optionalparameters for invoking a presentation action and parsing the key phraseand parameters against a voice response grammar into a presentationcontrol instruction. In some embodiments, the prerecorded presentationcontrol instruction includes a presentation action identifier andoptional parameters and selecting a classified structural elementincludes selecting a classified structural element in dependence uponthe presentation action identifier and the parameters.

Many embodiments include creating a session document from a presentationdocument carried out by identifying a presentation document for apresentation, the presentation document including a presentation grammarand a structured document having structural elements classified withclassification identifiers; identifying a user participant for thepresentation, the user having a user profile comprising userclassifications; and filtering the structured document in dependenceupon the user classifications and the classification identifiers.Typical embodiments also include creating a presentation documentcarried out by creating, in dependence upon an original document, astructured document comprising one or more structural elements;classifying a structural element of the structured document according toa presentation attribute; and creating a presentation grammar for thestructured document, wherein the presentation grammar for the structureddocument includes grammar elements each of which includes an identifierfor at least one structural element of the structured document.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of theinvention will be apparent from the following more particulardescriptions of exemplary embodiments of the invention as illustrated inthe accompanying drawings wherein like reference numbers generallyrepresent like parts of exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 sets forth a block diagram of an exemplary system architecture inwhich may be implemented various exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 sets forth class diagrams for exemplary object oriented classesuseful in implementing methods and systems for creating presentationdocuments according to various exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating a method for creatinga presentation document.

FIG. 4 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating an exemplary methodof creating a presentation grammar.

FIG. 5 sets forth an exemplary data structure in which a full grammarmay be implemented according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a data flow diagram illustrating a further method for creatinga presentation document.

FIG. 7 is a data flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method forclassifying a structural element.

FIG. 8 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating an exemplary methodfor classifying a structural element in a structured document.

FIG. 9 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating a further exemplarymethod for classifying a structural element in a structured document.

FIG. 10 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating another exemplarymethod for classifying a structural element in a structured document.

FIG. 11 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating a further exemplarymethod for classifying a structural element in a structured document.

FIG. 12 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating an exemplary methodfor creating a voice response grammar in a voice response server.

FIG. 13 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating an exemplary methodfor creating a voice response grammar in a voice response server.

FIG. 14 is a data flow diagram illustrating an alternative exemplarymethod for creating a voice response grammar in a voice response server.

FIG. 15 is a data flow diagram illustrating another alternativeexemplary method for creating a voice response grammar in a voiceresponse server.

FIG. 16 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating an exemplary methodfor creating a session document from a presentation document.

FIG. 17 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating an exemplary methodfor amending a session document during a presentation.

FIG. 18 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating an exemplary methodfor differential dynamic content delivery.

FIG. 19 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating another exemplarymethod for differential dynamic content delivery with prerecordedpresentation control instructions.

FIG. 20 sets forth a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method ofrecording presentation control instruction to create prerecordedpresentation control instructions.

FIG. 21 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating an exemplary methodfor differential dynamic content delivery based on historical experienceof more than one presentation of content.

FIG. 22 sets forth a line drawing illustrating an exemplary presentationhistory.

FIG. 23 sets forth a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method ofselecting a classified structural element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Introduction

The present invention is described to a large extent in thisspecification in terms of methods for differential dynamic contentdelivery. Persons skilled in the art, however, will recognize that anycomputer system that includes suitable programming means for operatingin accordance with the disclosed methods also falls well within thescope of the present invention. Suitable programming means include anymeans for directing a computer system to execute the steps of the methodof the invention, including for example, systems comprised of processingunits and arithmetic-logic circuits coupled to computer memory, whichsystems have the capability of storing in computer memory, whichcomputer memory includes electronic circuits configured to store dataand program instructions, programmed steps of the method of theinvention for execution by a processing unit.

The invention also may be embodied in a computer program product, suchas a diskette or other recording medium, for use with any suitable dataprocessing system. Embodiments of a computer program product may beimplemented by use of any recording medium for machine-readableinformation, including magnetic media, optical media, or other suitablemedia. Persons skilled in the art will immediately recognize that anycomputer system having suitable programming means will be capable ofexecuting the steps of the method of the invention as embodied in aprogram product. Persons skilled in the art will recognize immediatelythat, although most of the exemplary embodiments described in thisspecification are oriented to software installed and executing oncomputer hardware, nevertheless, alternative embodiments implemented asfirmware or as hardware are well within the scope of the presentinvention.

Creating a Presentation Document

Methods, systems, and products are now described for creating apresentation document with reference to the accompanying drawings,beginning with FIG. 1. FIG. 1 sets forth a block diagram of an exemplarysystem architecture in which may be implemented various exemplaryembodiments of the present invention. The system of FIG. 1 include acontent server (106) having stored content (108) of original documentsfrom which presentation documents are created. Agent (110) includessoftware modules for creating presentation grammars for presentationdocuments according to content type (114) and for classifyingpresentation document content according to presentation attributes(116). Presentation attributes are generic selection criteria fordisplaying appropriate structural elements of original documents tousers. Examples of presentation attributes include users' company names,department names, security levels, technical levels, and so on. Userprofiles (126) include user classification information typically used tofilter presentation media according to presentation attributes.

Content server (106) includes storage for presentation documents (314)each of which is composed of a presentation grammar (120) and astructured document (122). A presentation grammar is a data structurethat includes a set of key phrases used to identify presentation actionidentifiers and optional parameters for use in formulating presentationcontrol instructions relevant to structural elements of a content type.In typical embodiments, presentation control instructions arerepresented by and formulated from presentation action identifiers(reference 518 on FIG. 5). Key phrases are spoken by users and presentedas speech input to voice response server (104) where they are parsed andused to select a presentation action identifier (518 on FIG. 5) from aVRS grammar (105). VRS grammar (105) is formed dynamically frompresentation grammars (120) in use in a presentation session (128). Insome embodiments, VRS grammar (105) is formed dynamically from usergrammars from user profiles (126). Presentation Session Control Language(“PSCL”) stream (132) represents a stream of presentation controlinstructions composed of presentation action identifiers (518 on FIG. 5)and optional presentation control parameters (520 on FIG. 5) from VRS(104) to presentation server (102) which is programmed to present (134)structured multimedia content (136) from structured documents (122) tousers (124) in accordance with such presentation control instructions(132).

FIG. 2 sets forth class diagrams for exemplary object oriented classesuseful in implementing methods and systems for creating presentationdocuments according to various exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention. FIG. 2 includes a presentation document class (314) thatincludes a reference to a presentation grammar (120), a reference to astructured document (122), and a network location (202) of an originaldocument from which the presentation document was created. In theexample of FIG. 2, the network location (202) of the original documentis expressed as a Uniform Resource Identifier or “URI.”

FIG. 2 includes a profile class (126) whose objects representpresentation users. The profile class (126) includes a user name (204),a password (206), and a reference to a user grammar (208). A usergrammar is a data structure that includes a set of key phrases that areused to select presentation action identifiers specific to a user foruse in formulating presentation control instructions. For a presentationcontrol instruction that instructs a presentation session to carry outthe presentation action ‘page down,’ for example, an individual user maychose to associate with that presentation control instruction the keyphrase “rock and roll” or “boogie on down” or any other key phrasefavored by a user as will occur to those of skill in the art. Althoughthese particular examples are somewhat fanciful, in fact, user grammarsserve a useful purpose by providing key phrases for presentation controlinstructions that distinguish normal speech. In a discussion of a wordprocessing document, for example, references to pages and paragraphs mayabound, and using a distinctive phrase to invoke presentation controlinstructions on pages and paragraphs reduces the risk of confusion onthe part of a voice response server and a presentation session.

The profile class (126) also includes a string array storing userclassifications (210). Examples of user classifications (210) includeany supported data codes describing users, including, for example“company=IBM,” “department=marketing,” “technical level=3,” “securitylevel=2,” and others as will occur to those of skill in the art.

FIG. 2 includes a presentation session class (128) whose objectsrepresent presentation sessions. A presentation session represents anaggregation of presentation documents for presentation usually at a setdate and time, for a defined set of users including a presenter incharge. The presentation session class (128) includes a presentationidentifier code (212), a presenter identification (214), a list ofparticipants (216). The presentation session class (128) also includes aschedule date and time (218) when a presentation is to be presented, aURI array identifying presentation documents (220) requested by apresenter for a presentation session, a URI array identifyingpresentation documents that have been filtered according to presentationattributes or user classifications (220). The presentation session class(128) also includes a member method named mergeGrammars( ) (224) that isprogrammed to read presentation grammars from presentation documents andstore them in a VRS grammar on a voice response server for use inparsing key phrases spoken by a presenter and other users intopresentation control instructions.

Agent (110) includes software modules for structuring a presentationdocument according to content type (114) and for classifyingpresentation document content according to presentation attributes(116).

FIG. 2 includes an exemplary agent class (110) whose objects are used incontent servers to create presentation documents. Agent class (110)includes an array of references to content type plug-ins (114) that areused to create presentation grammars for presentation documentsaccording to content type. FIG. 2 also shows a content type plug-inclass (114) with a member method named createPresentationGrammar( )(232) which in this example is programmed to create presentationgrammars for presentation documents according to content type. Agentclass (110) also includes an array of references to classificationplug-ins (116) that are used to classify presentation document contentaccording to presentation attributes (116). FIG. 2 also shows aclassification plug-in class (116) with a member method namedclassifyDocument( ) (234) which in this example is programmed toclassify presentation document content according to presentationattributes.

Agent class (110) also includes a member method namedcreateStructuedDocument( ) (232) which is programmed to convert anoriginal document into a structured document by inserting structuralelement identifiers. Examples of structural element identifiers include<page>, <paragraph>, <row>, <column>, <cell>, <slide>, <jpeg>, <title>,<heading>, <subheading>, and so on, as will occur to those of skill inthe art. These examples of structural elements identifiers are expressedas markup tags such as would be used, for example, in a markup languagesuch as HTML (“HyperText Markup Language”) or XML (“eXtensible MarkupLanguage”), although this is not a limitation of the invention. In fact,it is well within the scope of the present invention to implementstructural element identifiers with binary codes, Unicode identifiers,or by use of other structure identifiers as will occur to those of skillin the art.

FIG. 3 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating a method for creatinga presentation document (314) that includes creating (304), independence upon an original document (302), a structured document (306)comprising one or more structural elements (402). In the method of FIG.3, creating (304) a structured document (306) is carried out byinserting (320) in the structured document (306) structural elementidentifiers (322) for the structural elements (402). An alternativemethod of creating a structured document, also shown in FIG. 3, iscarried out by converting (326) existing structural element identifiers(324) from the original document (302) to structural element identifiers(322) for the structural elements (402) of the structured document(306). The method of FIG. 3 also includes creating (310) a presentationgrammar (312) for the structured document (306). In the example of FIG.3, the presentation grammar (312) for the structured document (306)includes grammar elements (316) each of which includes a structuralelement identifier (318) for at least one structural element (402) ofthe structured document (306).

FIG. 4 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating an exemplary methodof creating a presentation grammar (312) for a structured document (314)that includes identifying (404) the content type (410) of the originaldocument (302). Identifying the content type may be carried out, forexample, by identifying the content type in dependence upon a filenameextension (303) in the filename of an original document. Examples offilename extension identifying content type include ‘pdf’ for Adobe'sPortable Document Format, ‘xls’ for a Microsoft Excel™ spreadsheet,‘doc’ for a word processing document, ‘xml’ for an XML document, and soon, as will occur to those of skill in the art. Alternatively,identifying the content type may be carried out by identifying thecontent type in dependence upon document header elements in an originaldocument (302). The following is an example of an HTML headeridentifying an original document having content type HTML version 4.01:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN”“htttp://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd”>

The method of FIG. 4 includes selecting (406), in dependence upon thecontent type (410), a full presentation grammar (308) from among amultiplicity of full presentation grammars (412). A full presentationgrammar may be implemented, for example, as shown in FIG. 5. Amultiplicity of full presentation grammars may be implemented in a datastructure similar to the one shown in FIG. 5 by adding a content typecolumn. FIG. 5 sets forth an exemplary data structure (308) in which afull grammar may be implemented according to embodiments of the presentinvention. The full grammar of FIG. 5 includes several grammar elements(502-514) for a content type. In this example, the content type is takenas a word processing document having structural elements that includepages, paragraphs, bullets, titles, subtitles, and so on, and the datastructure includes a column for an identifier (318) of a structuralelement, a column for a key phrase (516) for formulating a presentationcontrol instruction for invoking a presentation action, and a column fora presentation action identifier (518) representing a presentationaction. The exemplary data structure of FIG. 5 also includes a columnfor a data indication whether a presentation control instructionrequires a parameter. The exemplary grammar entries for presentationaction identifiers PgDn (502), PgUp (504), nextParagraph (508), andprevBullet (512) have parameter (520) values of ‘null,’ signifying thata voice response server parsing their key phrases into presentationcontrol instructions is not to parse a parameter for a presentationcontrol instruction. The exemplary grammar entries for presentationaction identifiers goToPage (506), nextHeading (510), and goToSubtitle(514), however, have parameter (520) values of ‘integer’ and ‘string,’signifying that a voice response server parsing their key phrases intopresentation control instructions is to seek to parse for each of themrespectively an integer parameter, a string parameter, and a stringparameter.

The method of FIG. 4 includes filtering (408) the full presentationgrammar (308) into a presentation grammar (312) for the structureddocument (306) in dependence upon the structural elements (402) of thestructured document (306). Filtering (408) the full presentation grammar(308) may be carried out by writing (414) from the full presentationgrammar (308) to the presentation grammar (312) for the structureddocument (306) each grammar element (316) having a structural elementidentifier (318) of a structural element (402) that occurs in thestructured document (306). Using the exemplary full grammar of FIG. 5,for example, to create a presentation grammar for a structured documenthaving structural elements including pages, paragraphs, headings, andsubtitles but no bullet points identified in it as structural elements,filtering (408) the full presentation grammar (308) by writing (414) tothe presentation grammar (312) grammar elements (502-510) plus grammarelement (514) but excluding grammar element (512).

Methods of creating presentation documents are further explained with anexemplary use case. Consider the following example of a structureddocument:

<document>   <page id=“1”>     <p id=“1”>a paragraph</p>     <pid=“2”>another paragraph</p>     <image id=“1”>a graphic image</image>  </page>   <page id=“2”>     <p id=“3”>a paragraph</p>     <pid=“4”>another paragraph</p>     <image id=“2”>another graphicimage</image>   </page> </document>

And assume that this exemplary structured document is associated in apresentation document with the following presentation grammar:

TABLE 1 Presentation Grammar Presentation Structural Action Element KeyPhrase Identifier Identifier Parameter page down PgDn <page> null pageup PgUp <page> null go to page goToPage <page> integer next paragraphnextParagraph <p> null go to paragraph goToParagraph <p> integer nextimage nextImage <image> null go to image goToImage <image> integer

This example is discussed with reference to the exemplary systemarchitecture of FIG. 1. In this example, then, when a presentationsession (128) displays the first page of the structured document and auser (124) speaks the words “page down,” a voice response server (104),having this presentation grammar as part of its VRS grammar (105),parses the speech into a presentation control instruction having apresentation control identifier named “PgDn” and communicates thepresentation control instruction through a presentation interface (132)to the presentation session in presentation server (102) which thendisplays the next page, in this example, page 2 of the examplestructured document. Similarly, when the first page of the structureddocument is on display, a user's speaking the words “go to paragraph 4”results in the presentation session's changing the display to showparagraph 4 on the second page of the document. And, when the first pageis on display for the users participating in the presentation and a userspeaks the words “next image,” the presentation session changes thedisplay to show image 2 on the second page of the document.

Classifying Structure Elements in a Presentation Document

FIG. 6 is a data flow diagram illustrating a further method for creatinga presentation document (314). The method of FIG. 6 includes creating(304), in dependence upon an original document (302), a structureddocument (306) comprising one or more structural elements (402), asexplained in detail above. The method of FIG. 6 also includesclassifying (330) a structural element (402) of the structured document(306) according to a presentation attribute (352). FIG. 7 is a data flowdiagram illustrating an exemplary method for classifying a structuralelement that includes identifying (702) a presentation attribute (352)for the structural element (402); identifying (704) a classificationidentifier (708) in dependence upon the presentation attribute (352);and inserting (706) the classification identifier (708) in associationwith the structural element (402) in the structured document (306). Themethod of FIG. 6 also includes creating (310) a presentation grammar(312) for the structured document (306), wherein the presentationgrammar (312) for the structured document (306) includes grammarelements (316) each of which includes an identifier (318) for at leastone structural element (402) of the structured document (306).

FIG. 8 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating an exemplary methodfor classifying a structural element in a structured document in whichidentifying (702) a presentation attribute (352) for the structuralelement (402) includes selecting (710) a presentation attribute (352)from a list (712) of supported presentation attributes (352). Thepresentation attribute list (712) of FIG. 8 includes two columns, onecolumn for presentation attributes (352) and another column forassociated classification identifiers (708). In the method of FIG. 8,identifying (704) a classification identifier (708) is carried out byidentifying a classification identifier (708) associated with thepresentation attribute (352) on the list (712). In the method of FIG. 8,inserting (706) the classification identifier (708) includes manuallyediting (712) the structured document (306) to insert classificationidentifiers in appropriate locations to classify structural elements ina structured document. For example, a paragraph to be viewed only bymembers of the marketing department may be classified by tagging theparagraph with <mkt></mkt>.

FIG. 9 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating a further exemplarymethod for classifying a structural element in a structured document inwhich identifying (702) a presentation attribute (352) for thestructural element (402) includes selecting (710) a presentationattribute (352) from a list (712) of supported presentation attributes(352), the presentation attribute (352) having an associatedclassification identifier (708). In the method of FIG. 9, identifying(704) a classification identifier (708) includes inserting (716) theclassification identifier (708) in a data structure (717) in associationwith a structural element identifier (322) for the structural element(402). In the method of FIG. 9, inserting (706) the classificationidentifier (708) in the structured document (306) includes reading (714)the classification identifier (708) from the data structure (717) independence upon the structural element identifier (322).

FIG. 10 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating another exemplarymethod for classifying a structural element in a structured documentthat includes providing a list (712) of supported presentationattributes (352) including at least one keyword (802) and at least oneindication of structural insertion scope (804) for each presentationattribute (352). In the method of FIG. 10, identifying (702) apresentation attribute (352) for the structural element (402) includesselecting (710) a presentation attribute (352) from the list (712) independence upon a keyword (806) from the structured document (306). Inthe method of FIG. 10, identifying (704) a classification identifier(708) is carried out by identifying a classification identifier (708)associated with the presentation attribute (352) on the list (712). Inthe method of FIG. 10, inserting (706) the classification identifier(708) is carried out by inserting the classification identifier (708) inthe structured document (306) according to a structural insertion scope(804) for the selected presentation attribute (352).

FIG. 11 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating a further exemplarymethod for classifying a structural element in a structured documentthat includes providing a list (712) of supported presentationattributes (352) including at least one data pattern (810) and at leastone indication of structural insertion scope (804) for each presentationattribute (352). In the method of FIG. 11, identifying (702) apresentation attribute (352) for the structural element (402) includesselecting (814) a presentation attribute (352) from the list (712) independence upon a data pattern (812) from the structured document (306).In the method of FIG. 11, identifying (704) a classification identifier(708) is carried out by identifying a classification identifier (708)associated with the presentation attribute (352) on the list (712). Inthe method of FIG. 11, inserting (706) the classification identifier(708) is carried out by inserting the classification identifier (708) inthe structured document (306) according to a structural insertion scope(804) for the selected presentation attribute (352).

Methods of creating presentation documents are further explained with anexemplary use case. Consider the following example of a structureddocument:

<document>   <page id=“1”>     <p id=“1”>       a paragraph on anintroductory subject     </p>   </page>   <page id=“2”>     <p id=“2”>      a paragraph on a particular subject     </p>     <tech level=“2”>    <p id=“2”>       a more technical paragraph on the same subject    </p>     </tech>     <security level=“2”>     <p id=“2”>       amore secret paragraph on the same subject     </p>     </security>    <dept id=“marketing”>     <p id=“2”>       a paragraph on the samesubject with added detail       regarding marketing     </p>     </dept>    <company id=“IBM”>     <p id=“2”>       a paragraph on the samesubject with added detail       pertinent to a user's company     </p>    </company>     <p id=“3”>       a paragraph on a further subject    </p>     ... ... ...   </page>   <page id=“3”>     ... ... ...  </page>   ... ... ... </document>

This example is discussed with reference to the exemplary systemarchitecture of FIG. 1, assuming that this exemplary structured documentis associated in a presentation document with a presentation grammarthat includes presentation action identifiers for paragraphs and pagesuploaded to a VRS grammar (105) in a voice response server (104). Inthis example, then, when a presentation session (128) is displaying thefirst page of the structured document and a user (124) speaks the words“next page,” a voice response server (104) parses the speech into apresentation control instruction with a presentation action identifiernamed “PgDn” and communicates the presentation control instructionthrough a presentation interface (132) to the presentation session whichthen displays the next page, in this example, page 2 of the examplestructured document. Assume that there are five users (124) registeredas participants with the presentation session (128), and note that thereare five different versions of paragraph 2 on page two of the structureddocument.

In this example, a first version of paragraph 2 bears a structuralidentifier <p></p> identifying it as a paragraph, but this first versionof paragraph 2 bears no classification identifier. In this example,presentation session (128) is programmed to display this unclassifiedversion of paragraph 2 to users having either the lowest technicalclassifications, the lowest security classifications, or no particulartechnical or security classifications at all. Moreover, in an example,where there were only one version of paragraph 2, all users would bepresented with that one version.

In this example, a second version of paragraph 2 is classified with aclassification identifier <tech level=“2”>. In this example,presentation session (128) is programmed to display this second versionof paragraph 2 to users having user classification indicating technicallevel 2. That is, when a user having technical level 2 in the user'sprofile classifications (210 on FIG. 2) is registered with thepresentation session, upon being directed to display paragraph 2, ratherthan displaying an unclassified version of paragraph 2, the presentationsession displays the second version of paragraph 2 classified <techlevel=“2”> to such a user.

Similarly, a user having a user profile classification representing aheightened security authorization, security level 2, is shown theversion of paragraph 2 classified by the classification identifier<security level=“2”>. A user having a user profile classificationidentifying the user as a member of the marketing department is shownthe version of paragraph 2 classified by the classification identifier<dept id=“marketing”>. A user having a user profile classificationidentifying the user as an employee of IBM is shown the version ofparagraph 2 classified by the classification identifier <companyid=“IBM”>.

For purposes of clarity of explanation, the structural elements in thisexample are shown with only one classification per element. Persons ofskill in the art will recognize, however, that it is well within thescope of the present invention for a structural element of a structureddocument to be classified with any number of classification identifiers.

Creating a Voice Response Grammar from a Presentation Grammar

FIG. 12 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating a method forcreating a voice response grammar in a voice response server includingidentifying (354) presentation documents (118) for a presentation. Inthe method of FIG. 4, each presentation document has a presentationgrammar (120), and the method includes storing (358) each presentationgrammar (120) in a voice response grammar (105) on a voice responseserver (104). Presentation grammars and voice response grammars may bestructured like the full grammars illustrated in FIG. 5 with grammarelements (502-514) for a content type (410). In the exemplary grammarstructure of FIG. 5, the content type is taken as a word processingdocument having structural elements that include pages, paragraphs,bullets, titles, subtitles, and so on, and the data structure includes acolumn for an identifier (318) of a structural element, a column for akey phrase (516) for formulating a presentation control instruction toinvoke a presentation action, and a column for a presentation actionidentifier (518) representing a presentation action.

In the method of FIG. 12, identifying (354) presentation documents (118)for a presentation includes creating (360) a data structure (128)representing a presentation and listing (362) at least one presentationdocument (118) in the data structure (128) representing a presentation.A data structure representing a presentation may be implemented as aninstance of a presentation session class as shown at reference (128) onFIG. 2. In the method of FIG. 12, listing (362) the at least onepresentation document (118) includes storing (366) a location (364) ofthe presentation document (118) in the data structure (128) representinga presentation. In the exemplary structure of FIG. 2, storing a locationof a presentation document may be implemented by storing presentationdocument locations in the form of URIs in an array of URIs (220). In themethod of FIG. 12, storing (358) each presentation grammar (120)includes retrieving (368) a presentation grammar (120) of thepresentation document (118) in dependence upon the location (364) of thepresentation document (118).

In one exemplary embodiment of the method of FIG. 12, the presentationdocument (118) is implemented as a file in a file system on a contentserver (106) and the file has a location (364) identified by a pathname.In such an embodiment, storing (366) a location (364) of thepresentation document (118) in the data structure (128) representing apresentation includes storing the pathname and a network location of thecontent server. An example of storing a pathname and a network locationis storing a URI for the document in a URI array such as thatillustrated at reference (220) on FIG. 2. Such a URI may have the form:

-   -   http://www.someContentServer.com/presentationDocuments/myDoc.doc        where www.someContentServer.com is a domain name for a web        server that maps to a network address such as an Internet        Protocol address, for example, of a computer where a web server        is located. A ‘web server’ is a server that supports data        communications according the HyperText Transport Protocol        (‘HTTP’). The portion of the URI after the domain name,        “presentationDocuments/myDoc.doc,” is a pathname for a document        on the computer on which the web server is located. In such an        embodiment, retrieving (368) a presentation grammar includes        retrieving the presentation document from the content server        (106) in dependence upon the pathname and extracting the grammar        from the presentation document. In an example where the        presentation document is located according to a URI as described        above and the content server is implemented with a web server,        retrieving the presentation document from the content server may        be carried out by parsing the URI into an HTTP GET message:    -   GET /presentationDocuments/myDoc.doc HTTP/1.1        and transmitting the GET message to the content server at        www.ibmContentServer.com.

In this example, the content server returns the presentation document asURI encoded data in an HTTP RESPONSE message. In an example where thereturned presentation document has this form:

<presentationDocument>   <presentationGrammar>     <grammarElement>      <contentType id=“WP”>       <keyPhrase>         page down      </keyPhrase>       <presentationAction id=“PgDn”>      <structuralElementIdentifier id=“page”>     </grammarElement >  </presentationGrammar>   <structuredDocument>     <page id=“1”>      <p id=“1”> a paragraph </p>       <p id=“2”> another paragraph</p>     </page>     <page id=“2”> some text </page>  </structuredDocument> </presentationDocument>,extracting the grammar from the presentation document may be carried outby extracting the portion of the presentation document identified by thetags:

-   -   <presentationGrammar></presentationGrammar>

In another exemplary embodiment of the method of FIG. 12, thepresentation document (118) is implemented as an instance of an objectoriented class on a content server (106). In this example, thepresentation document has a presentation document name, and thepresentation grammar comprises a member data element of the instance. Insuch an embodiment, storing (366) a location (364) of the presentationdocument (118) in the data structure (128) representing a presentationincludes storing the presentation document name and a network locationof the content server.

An example of storing a pathname and a network location is storing a URIfor the document in a URI array such as that illustrated at reference(220) on FIG. 2. Such a URI may have the form:

http://www.ibmContentServer.com/servlets/getPresentationGrammar?presDoc=myDoc.docwhere www.someContentServer.com is a domain name for a web server. Theportion of the URI after the domain name but before the question mark,“servlets/getPresentationGrammar,” is a pathname for server-sidefunctionality for retrieving a presentation document. The server-sidefunctionality could be a CGI (Common Gateway Interface (‘CGI’) script orother server-side functionality as will occur to those of skill in theart, but in this example the server-side functionality is taken as aJava servlet identified by its name, “getPresentationGrammar.” Theremainder of the URI is query data encoded as a name-value pairidentifying the name of a presentation document, “myDoc.doc,” from whicha presentation grammar is to be extracted by the servlet.

In such an exemplary embodiment, retrieving (368) a presentation grammaris carried out by requesting the presentation grammar (120) from thecontent server (106), including communicating the presentation documentname as a request parameter; and receiving the presentation grammar(120) in response from the content server (106). In an example where thepresentation document is located according to a URI as described aboveand the content server is implemented with a web server, requesting thepresentation grammar (120) from the content server (106), includingcommunicating the presentation document name as a request parameter, maybe carried out by parsing the URI into an HTTP GET message:

-   -   GET /servlets/getPresentationGrammar?presDoc=myDoc.doc HTTP/1.1        and transmitting the GET message to the content server at        www.ibmContentServer.com.

In another exemplary embodiment of the method of FIG. 12, thepresentation document (118) includes a record in a table in a databaseon a content server (106). In this example, the presentation documenthas a presentation document identifier, and the presentation grammarcomprises a field in the record. In such an embodiment, storing (366) alocation (364) of the presentation document (118) in the data structure(128) representing a presentation includes storing the presentationdocument identifier and a network location of the content server. In adatabase table in which each record represents a presentation document,for example, the presentation document identifier may be implemented asa single field unique key such as a serial number for a record, as apresentation document name, or as any functional identifier as willoccur to those of skill in the art. In the continuing discussion of thisexample, the presentation document identifier is taken as a presentationdocument name.

An example of storing a presentation document identifier and a networklocation is storing a URI for the document in a URI array such as thatillustrated at reference (220) on FIG. 2. Such a URI may have the form:

http://www.ibmContentServer.com/cgi-bin/getPresentationGrammar?presDoc=myDoc.docwhere www.someContentServer.com is a domain name for a web server. Theportion of the URI after the domain name but before the question mark,“/cgi-bin/getPresentationGrammar,” is a pathname for server-sidefunctionality for retrieving a presentation document. The server-sidefunctionality could be a Java servlet or other server-side functionalityas will occur to those of skill in the art, but in this example theserver-side functionality is taken as a CGI script named“getPresentationGrammar.” The remainder of the URI is query data encodedas a name-value pair identifying the name of a presentation document,“myDoc.doc,” from which a presentation grammar is to be extracted by theCGI script.

In such an exemplary embodiment, retrieving (368) a presentation grammaris carried out by requesting the presentation grammar (120) from thecontent server (106), including communicating the presentation documentname as a request parameter; and receiving the presentation grammar(120) in response from the content server (106). In an example where thepresentation document is located according to a URI as described aboveand the content server is implemented with a web server, requesting thepresentation grammar (120) from the content server (106), includingcommunicating the presentation document name as a request parameter, maybe carried out by parsing the URI into an HTTP GET message:

-   -   GET /cgi-bin/getPresentationGrammar?presDoc=myDoc.doc HTTP/1.1        and transmitting the GET message to the content server at        www.ibmContentServer.com.

Creating a Voice Response Grammar from a User Grammar

FIG. 13 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating a method forcreating a voice response grammar in a voice response server includingidentifying (372) a user (374) for a presentation where the user has auser grammar (208) and the user grammar includes one or more usergrammar elements (378). The method of FIG. 13 also includes storing(376) a multiplicity of user grammar elements (378) for the user in avoice response grammar (105) on a voice response server (104). A usergrammar is a data structure that includes a set of key phrases specificto a user that are used to formulate presentation control instructionsfor invoking presentation actions on presentation servers. For apresentation control instruction that invokes a presentation actioninstructing a presentation session to ‘page down,’ for example, anindividual user may chose to associate with that presentation controlinstruction the key phrase “rock and roll” or “boogie on down” or anyother key phrase favored by a user as will occur to those of skill inthe art. Although these particular example are somewhat fanciful, infact, user grammars serve a useful purpose by providing key phrases forpresentation actions that distinguish normal speech. User grammars andvoice response grammars may be structured like the full grammarsillustrated in FIG. 5 with grammar elements (502-514) for a content type(410).

In the method of FIG. 13, identifying (372) a user for a presentationincludes creating (360) a data structure (128) representing apresentation and listing (380) in the data structure (128, 374) at leastone user identification (204). A data structure representing apresentation may be implemented as an instance of a presentation sessionclass as shown at reference (128) on FIG. 2. In the method of FIG. 13,listing (380) in the data structure (128, 374) at least one useridentification (204) includes creating a list of user names of the usersthat are registered with the presentation session. That is, a list ofusers currently participating in the presentation.

In the example of FIG. 13, the user grammar (208) includes amultiplicity of user grammar elements (378) for a content type (370). Inthis example, each grammar element includes an identifier of astructural element, a key phrase for invoking a presentation action, andan action identifier representing the presentation action, as shown forexample in the depiction of an exemplary full grammar at references(318), (518), and (516) on FIG. 5.

The method of FIG. 13 includes identifying (382) presentation documents(118) for the presentation. In this example, each presentation document(118) having a content type (370), and selecting (384) user grammarelements (386) according to the content type (370) of the identifiedpresentation documents (356). In the example of FIG. 13, selecting (384)user grammar elements (386) according to the content type (370) of theidentified presentation documents (356) includes comparing the elementsof the user grammar with each presentation document in the presentationsession and extracting each element of the grammar having the samecontent type as a presentation document in the presentation session. Inthe method of FIG. 13, storing (376) a multiplicity of user grammarelements for the user in a voice response grammar on a voice responseserver is carried out by storing the selected user grammar elements(386) in the voice response grammar (105).

FIG. 14 is a data flow diagram illustrating an alternative exemplarymethod for creating a voice response grammar in a voice response server.The method of FIG. 14 includes identifying (388) presentation documents(118) for the presentation. The presentation documents (118) in thisexample include structured documents (122) having structural elementidentifiers (322). In the example of FIG. 14, the identifiedpresentation documents are included in a presentation document list(356) in the presentation session.

The user grammar (208) in this example includes a multiplicity of usergrammar elements (378), and the method includes selecting (390) usergrammar elements (378) in dependence upon the structural elementidentifiers (322). In this example, selecting (390) user grammarelements (378) in dependence upon the structural element identifiers(322) is carried out by comparing the elements of the user grammar witheach structured document of each presentation document in thepresentation session and extracting each user grammar element having astructural element identifier for a structural element that occurs in astructured document of a presentation document in the presentationsession. In the method of FIG. 14, storing (376) a multiplicity of usergrammar elements for the user in a voice response grammar on a voiceresponse server includes storing the selected user grammar elements(386) in the voice response grammar (105).

FIG. 15 is a data flow diagram illustrating another alternativeexemplary method for creating a voice response grammar in a voiceresponse server. The method of FIG. 15 includes identifying (394)presentation documents (118) for the presentation. Each presentationdocument (118) has a presentation grammar (120) including presentationaction identifiers (518).

In the example of FIG. 15, the user grammar (208) includes amultiplicity of user grammar elements (378), and the method includesselecting (396) user grammar elements (378) in dependence upon thepresentation action identifiers (518). In this example, selecting (396)user grammar elements (378) in dependence upon the presentation actionidentifiers (518) is carried out by comparing the elements of the usergrammar with each presentation grammar of each presentation document ofthe presentation session and extracting from the user grammar eachelement having a presentation action identifier that occurs in apresentation grammar of the presentation document. In the method of FIG.15, storing (376) a multiplicity of user grammar elements for the userin a voice response grammar on a voice response server includes storingthe selected user grammar elements (386) in the voice response grammar(105).

Creating a Session Document from a Presentation Document

FIG. 16 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating an exemplary methodfor creating a session document (266) from a presentation document(314). A session document is a repository for filtered content,presentation content that is filtered according to attributes of anaudience for a presentation, an audience that presents a range ofaffiliations, technical abilities, security authorizations, and otherattributes as will occur to those of skill in the art. The purpose of asession document is to provide a repository for reducing the volume ofdata for a presentation with respect to unfiltered presentationdocuments. A session document is a document derived from a presentationdocument targeted for the participants of a presentation. Moreparticularly, a session document is a data structure that includes asession grammar derived from a presentation grammar in a presentationdocument and a session structured document derived from a structureddocument in a presentation document.

The method of FIG. 16 includes identifying (250) a presentation document(314) for a presentation. The presentation document (314) includes apresentation grammar (312) and a structured document (306) havingstructural elements (402) classified with classification identifiers(708). Identifying (250) a presentation document (314) typicallyincludes inserting in a list (220) a location for the presentationdocument (314). The location of a presentation document may berepresented by a URI, and a list of locations identifying presentationdocuments may be implemented as an array of URIs as exemplified by therequested content list (220) in the exemplary presentation session class(128) on FIG. 2.

The method of FIG. 16 includes identifying (252) a user participant(204) for the presentation. In the method of FIG. 16, the user has auser profile (126) that includes user classifications (210) each ofwhich describes some attribute of a user, such as, for example, companyaffiliation, department membership, technical ability, securityauthorization level, and so on, for any attribute of a user as may occurto those of skill in the art. Identifying (252) a user (204) typicallyincludes inserting in a list (374) a user identification (204)identifying a user in a presentation participant list (374). In theexample of FIG. 16, a user identification is implemented as a user name(204) in a user profile (126).

The method of FIG. 16 includes filtering (254) the structured document(306) in dependence upon the user classifications (210) and theclassification identifiers (708). In the method of FIG. 16, filtering(254) the structured document (306) is carried out by extracting (259),from the structured document (306), structural elements (402) havingclassification identifiers (708) corresponding to the userclassifications (210), and writing (260) the extracted structuralelements (402) into a session structured document (256) in the sessiondocument (266). The method of FIG. 16 also includes filtering (262) thepresentation grammar (312), in dependence upon the extracted structuralelements (402), into a session grammar (258) in the session document(266). The method of FIG. 16 includes storing (264) the location of thesession document (266) in a session document list (222).

For further explanation, consider an example of creating a sessiondocument that begins with a presentation document having the followingcontents:

<presentationDocument>   <presentationGrammar>     <grammarElement>      <contentType id=“WP”>       <keyPhrase>page down</keyPhrase>      <presentationAction id=“PgDn”>       <structuralElementIdentifierid=“page”>     </grammarElement >     <grammarElement>      <contentType id=“WP”>       <keyPhrase>next bullet</keyPhrase>      <presentationAction id=“NextBullet”>      <structuralElementIdentifier id=“bullet”>     </grammarElement >  </presentationGrammar>   <structuredDocument>     <page id=“1”>      <p id=“1”>a paragraph on some subject</p>     </page>     <pageid=“2”>       <p id=“2”>a paragraph on a particular subject</p>      <tech level=“2”>       <p id=“2”>a more technical paragraph, same      subject</p>       </tech>       <security level=“2”>       <pid=“2”>a more secret paragraph, same subject</p>       </security>      <dept id=“marketing”>       <p id=“2”>a paragraph, same subject,with added         detail regarding marketing         <bullet id=“1”>some bullet text</bullet>         <bullet id =“1”>some other bullettext</bullet>         <bullet id =“1”>still more bullet text</bullet>      </p>       </dept>       <company id=“IBM”>       <p id=“2”>aparagraph, same subject with added detail       pertinent to a user'scompany</p>       </company>       <p id=“3”>a paragraph on some othersubject</p>       ... ... ...     </page>   </structuredDocument></presentationDocument>

In this example, an audience of users identified for a presentationinclude users having in their user profiles user classificationsindicating technical level ‘2’ and membership in IBM. None of theregistered users have security authorizations and none of them are fromthe marketing department. Filtering this exemplary presentationdocument, extracting structural elements with classification identifierscorresponding to the user classifications, writing those structuralelements to a session document, and filtering the presentation grammarin dependence upon the extracted structural elements, results in thefollowing exemplary session document:

<sessionDocument>   <sessionGrammar>     <grammarElement>      <contentType id=“WP”>       <keyPhrase>page down</keyPhrase>      <presentationAction id=“PgDn”>       <structuralElementIdentifierid=“page”>     </grammarElement >   </sessionGrammar>  <sessionStructuredDocument>     <page id=“1”>       <p id=“1”> aparagraph </p>       <p id=“2”> another paragraph </p>     </page>  <page id=“2”>     <p id=“2”>a paragraph on a particular subject</p>    <tech level=“2”>     <p id=“2”>a more technical paragraph, samesubject</p>     </tech>     <company id=“IBM”>     <p id=“2”>aparagraph, same subject with added detail       pertinent to a user'scompany</p>     </company>     <p id=“3”>a paragraph on some othersubject</p>     ... ... ...   </page>   </sessionStructuredDocument></sessionDocument>

In the resulting session document, the structural element identified aspage 2 now excludes versions for security level 2 and for marketing,because none of the users listed for the presentation are in themarketing department or have security authorizations of level 2. Inaddition, the session grammar excludes a grammar element for bulletsbecause, in the session document above, the only structural elementhaving bullets was the version of paragraph 2 for the marketingdepartment. Excluding the bullets as structural elements in the sessionstructured document means that there is no need to have grammar elementsfor them in the session grammar. Reducing the number of grammar elementsin the session grammar reduces the number of grammar elements in thevoice response grammar, thereby increasing the efficiency and accuracyof the voice response server and the overall presentation system.

Amending a Session Document During a Presentation

FIG. 17 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating an exemplary methodfor amending a session document (266) during a presentation. The sessiondocument (266) includes a session structured document (256), and themethod of FIG. 17 includes providing (268) user profiles (126)representing users capable of participating in presentations. In typicalembodiments, user profiles for all the users capable of participating inpresentations are stored in a database accessible to the presentationsession. In the example of FIG. 17, each user profile (126) includesuser classifications (210) for a user.

The method of FIG. 17 also includes providing (270) a presentationdocument (314) that includes a structured document (306) havingstructural elements (402) classified with classification identifiers(708). In the example of FIG. 17, the locations of the presentationdocuments from which the session documents for a particular presentationwere created are stored in a list such as the requested content list(220) of FIG. 17.

The method of FIG. 17 includes identifying (274) a user profile event(272) for a user during the presentation. A user profile event is anevent that results in adding a user classification to the set of userclassifications for a presentation. The set of user classifications fora presentation is the set of all user classifications for all users thathave been identified as users for a presentation. A user profile eventmay be represented as a data structure (272) that includes a useridentification (205) for a particular user.

A user profile event (272) may be generated by adding a user to thepresentation, where the added user has a new user classification for thepresentation. That is, one example of a user profile event (272) isadding to a presentation a user whose user classifications include atleast one user classification having no corresponding classificationidentifier in any structural element in the session structured document.

In such an example, at least one of the added user's userclassifications is currently not part of any user profile of any of theother users identified for the presentation.

A user profile event (272) also may be generated, for a further example,by changing a user classification (210) in a user profile (126) of auser who is participating in the presentation, where the changed userclassification includes a new user classification for the presentation.That is, one example of a user profile event (272) is editing a user'sprofile during a presentation so that the user's user profile nowincludes a user classification having no corresponding classificationidentifier in any structural element in the session structured document.In such an example, the new user classification is currently not part ofany user profile of any of the other users identified for thepresentation.

The method of FIG. 17 includes adding (276) to the session structureddocument (256) at least one structural element (402) from thepresentation document (314), the added structural element (402) having aclassification identifier (708) that corresponds to a userclassification (210) of the user. In the examples just mentioned,regarding adding a new user to a presentation or a new userclassification to a profile, adding (276) to the session structureddocument (256) a structural element (402) from the presentation document(314), the added structural element (402) having a classificationidentifier (708) that corresponds to a user classification (210) of theuser, means that the new structural element is one that no other useridentified for the presentation was entitled to view. Because adding astructural element may mean adding a structural element of a kind nototherwise represented in the session structured document, the method ofFIG. 17 advantageously also includes adding (278) a grammar element(316) to the session grammar (258) in dependence upon the addedstructural element (402).

For further explanation, consider the following example of amending asession document (266) during a presentation. In this example, a sessiondocument is used for a presentation having users whose user profilesinclude user classifications of technical level ‘2’ and membership inIBM:

  <sessionDocument>     <sessionGrammar>       <grammarElement>        <contentType id=“WP”>         <keyPhrase>page down</keyPhrase>        <presentationAction id=“PgDn”>        <structuralElementIdentifier id=“page”>       </grammarElement >    </sessionGrammar>     <sessionStructuredDocument>       <pageid=“1”>         <p id=“1”> a paragraph </p>         <p id=“2”> anotherparagraph </p>       </page>     <page id=“2”>       <p id=“2”>aparagraph on a particular subject</p>       <tech level=“2”>       <pid=“2”>a more technical paragraph, same subject</p>       </tech>      <company id=“IBM”>       <p id=“2”>a paragraph, same subject withadded detail         pertinent to a user's company</p>       </company>      <p id=“3”>a paragraph on some other subject</p>       ... ... ...    </page>     </sessionStructuredDocument> </sessionDocument>

This session document in this example was created from the followingpresentation document:

  <presentationDocument>     <presentationGrammar>      <grammarElement>         <contentType id=“WP”>        <keyPhrase>page down</keyPhrase>         <presentationActionid=“PgDn”>         <structuralElementIdentifier id=“page”>        </grammarElement >       <grammarElement>         <contentTypeid=“WP”>         <keyPhrase>next bullet</keyPhrase>        <presentationAction id=“NextBullet”>        <structuralElementIdentifier id=“bullet”>      </grammarElement >     </presentationGrammar>    <structuredDocument>       <page id=“1”>         <p id=“1”>aparagraph on some subject</p>       </page>       <page id=“2”>        <p id=“2”>a paragraph on a particular subject</p>         <techlevel=“2”>         <p id=“2”>a more technical paragraph, same        subject</p>         </tech>         <security level=“2”>        <p id=“2”>a more secret paragraph, same subject</p>        </security>         <dept id=“marketing”>         <p id=“2”>aparagraph, same subject, with added           detail regarding marketing          <bullet id =“1”>some bullet text</bullet>           <bullet id=“1”>some other bullet text</bullet>           <bullet id =“1”>stillmore bullet text</bullet>         </p>         </dept>         <companyid=“IBM”>         <p id=“2”>a paragraph, same subject with added detail        pertinent to a user's company</p>         </company>         <pid=“3”>a paragraph on some other subject</p>         ... ... ...      </page>     </structuredDocument> </presentationDocument>

The session document in this example contains no structural elementsclassified for users from the marketing department. After beginning thepresentation a user from the marketing department joins thepresentation. The user's joining the presentation is represented byadding the user's user identification to a list of users identified forthe presentation. Adding the user ID to the list identifies (274) a userprofile event (272) which is represented by a data structure thatincludes the user's user identification (205). Amending the sessiondocument proceeds by adding (276) to a session structured document (256)one or more structural elements (402) from a structured document in thepresentation document from which the session structured document wascreated. Adding (276) to the session structured document (256) at leastone structural element (402) from the presentation document (314) iscarried out by adding a structural element (402) having a classificationidentifier (708) that corresponds to a user classification (210) of theuser. User classifications of the user are read from the user profiles(126) using the user identification (205) provided to the adding process(276) by the user profile event (272). In this example, adding astructural element to the session structured documents is carried out byadding the following paragraph from the structured document of thepresentation document set forth above:

<dept id=“marketing”> <p id=“2”>a paragraph, same subject, with addeddetail regarding marketing   <bullet id =“1”>some bullet text</bullet>  <bullet id =“1”>some other bullet text</bullet>   <bullet id=“1”>still more bullet text</bullet> </p> </dept>,thereby creating the following amended session document:

<sessionDocument>   <sessionGrammar>     <grammarElement>      <contentType id=“WP”>       <keyPhrase>page down</keyPhrase>      <presentationAction id=“PgDn”>       <structuralElementIdentifierid=“page”>     </grammarElement >   </sessionGrammar>  <sessionStructuredDocument>     <page id=“1”>       <p id=“1”> aparagraph </p>       <p id=“2”> another paragraph </p>     </page>  <page id=“2”>     <p id=“2”>a paragraph on a particular subject</p>    <tech level=“2”>     <p id=“2”>a more technical paragraph, samesubject</p>     </tech>     <company id=“IBM”>     <p id=“2”>aparagraph, same subject with added detail       pertinent to a user'scompany</p>     </company>     <dept id=“marketing”>     <p id=“2”>aparagraph, same subject, with added detail       regarding marketing      <bullet id =“1”>some bullet text</bullet>       <bullet id=“1”>some other bullet text</bullet>       <bullet id =“1”>still morebullet text</bullet>     </p>     </dept>     <p id=“3”>a paragraph onsome other subject</p>     ... ... ...   </page>  </sessionStructuredDocument> </sessionDocument>

Amending the session document also includes adding to the sessiongrammar of the session document a new grammar element from thepresentation grammar. There were no bullets in the session structureddocument before the exemplary user profile event and therefore nogrammar elements supporting presentation control instructions forbullets. Adding the marketing paragraph also added bullets, so themethod advantageously includes adding grammar elements supportingpresentation control instructions for bullets:

<grammarElement>   <contentType id=“WP”>   <keyPhrase>nextbullet</keyPhrase>   <presentationAction id=“NextBullet”>  <structuralElementIdentifier id=“bullet”> </grammarElement >,thereby creating the following amended session document:

<sessionDocument>   <sessionGrammar>     <grammarElement>      <contentType id=“WP”>       <keyPhrase>page down</keyPhrase>      <presentationAction id=“PgDn”>       <structuralElementIdentifierid=“page”>     </grammarElement >     <grammarElement>      <contentType id=“WP”>       <keyPhrase>next bullet</keyPhrase>      <presentationAction id=“NextBullet”>      <structuralElementIdentifier id=“bullet”>     </grammarElement >  </sessionGrammar>   <sessionStructuredDocument>     <page id=“1”>      <p id=“1”> a paragraph </p>       <p id=“2”> another paragraph</p>     </page>   <page id=“2”>     <p id=“2”>a paragraph on aparticular subject</p>     <tech level=“2”>     <p id=“2”>a moretechnical paragraph, same subject</p>     </tech>     <company id=“IBM”>    <p id=“2”>a paragraph, same subject with added detail      pertinent to a user's company</p>     </company>     <deptid=“marketing”>     <p id=“2”>a paragraph, same subject, with addeddetail       regarding marketing       <bullet id =“1”>some bullettext</bullet>       <bullet id =“1”>some other bullet text</bullet>      <bullet id =“1”>still more bullet text</bullet>     </p>    </dept>     <p id=“3”>a paragraph on some other subject</p>     ...... ...   </page>   </sessionStructuredDocument> </sessionDocument>

Differential Dynamic Content Delivery

FIG. 18 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating an exemplary methodfor differential dynamic content delivery. Differential dynamic contentdelivery is delivery of the content of a presentation to userparticipants according to a wide variety of participant interest,company, group, or department membership, technical knowledge, securityauthorization, and so on, across almost any dimension in whichparticipants may vary. Differential dynamic content delivery isaccomplished generally in methods and systems according to embodimentsof the present invention by use of structured, classified documents,presentation documents and session documents, each of which includes agrammar and a structured document as described below. Using suchdocuments as a source of presentation content, differential dynamiccontent delivery is accomplished then by selecting from a structureddocument classified structural elements for delivery to particular userparticipants according to the classification identifiers in the documentand user classifications from user profiles.

FIG. 18 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating an exemplary methodfor differential dynamic content delivery that includes providing (450)a session document (266) for a presentation. In the method of FIG. 18,the session document (266) includes a session grammar (258) and asession structured document (256), and providing (450) a sessiondocument (266) for a presentation is carried out by creating a sessiondocument from a presentation document as described in detail above inthe discussion regarding FIG. 16.

The method of FIG. 18 also includes creating (462) a presentationcontrol instruction (460). A presentation control instruction is aninstruction to a presentation server (102) to carry out a particularpresentation action such as, for example, ‘display next page,’ ‘displaynext slide,’ ‘display paragraph 5,’ and so on. More particularly, indifferential dynamic content delivery, presentation actions are carriedout by presenting to a particular user a version of a particularstructural element, such as a paragraph or a slide, according to userclassifications such as company name, department name, securityauthorization, and so on. In the method of FIG. 18, an exemplarypresentation control instruction (460) includes a presentation actionidentifier (518) and one or more optional parameters (520).

In the method of FIG. 18, creating the presentation control instructionis carried out by receiving (464) from a user (124) participating in thepresentation a key phrase (516) and optional parameters (520) forinvoking a presentation action and parsing (466) the key phrase (516)and parameters (520) against a voice response grammar (105) into apresentation control instruction (460). In this example, receiving (464)a key phrase (516) is carried out by use of a Voice Over InternetProtocol (“VOIP”) link (130) that carries the speech of at least oneuser (124) from the user's client device to a voice response server(104). A VOIP link is a kind of computer hardware and software that usesan internet protocol network instead of a traditional telephone networkas the transmission medium for speech. VOIP is sometimes referred to as‘IP telephony’ or ‘Voice Over the Internet’ (“VOI”). Examples of userclient devices include any computer equipment capable of convertinginput speech to digital data and transmitting it over the internetprotocol to a voice response server, including handheld wirelessdevices, personal digital assistants, personal computers, laptopcomputers, and the like.

The method of FIG. 18 also includes receiving (458) a presentationcontrol instruction (460) in a presentation server and selecting (452)from a session structured document (256) a classified structural element(402) in dependence upon user classifications (210) of a userparticipant (124) in the presentation. In the method of FIG. 18,selecting (452) a classified structural element (402) is carried out byselecting a classified structural element (402) in dependence upon thepresentation action identifier (518) and the parameters (520) from thepresentation control instruction (460). In the method of FIG. 18,selecting (452) a classified structural element (402) also includesselecting a classified structural element having an associatedclassification identifier (708) that corresponds to the userclassification (210).

For further explanation, consider an example using the followingexemplary session document:

  <sessionDocument>     <sessionGrammar>       <grammarElement>        <contentType id=“WP”>         <keyPhrase>page down</keyPhrase>        <presentationAction id=“PgDn”>        <structuralElementIdentifier id=“page”>       </grammarElement >    </sessionGrammar>     <sessionStructuredDocument>       <pageid=“1”>         <p id=“1”> a paragraph </p>         <p id=“2”> anotherparagraph </p>       </page>       <page id=“2”>         <p id=“2”>aparagraph on a particular subject</p>         <tech level=“2”>        <p id=“2”>a more technical paragraph, same           subject</p>        </tech>         <company id=“IBM”>         <p id=“2”>aparagraph, same subject with added detail           pertinent to auser's company</p>         </company>         <p id=“3”>a paragraph onsome other subject</p>         ... ... ...       </page>    </sessionStructuredDocument> </sessionDocument>

In this example, assume that a first user participant has in a userprofile user classifications indicating that the user is an IBM employeeand a second user has user classifications indicating that the user hastechnical ability level ‘2’. In this example, a presentation serverhaving the above session document installed upon it receives (458) apresentation control instruction (460) to move to the display to thesecond page of the session structured document. The presentation serverthen selects (452) from the session structured document (256) for thefirst user the structural element identified as a version of page twoand classified as:

<company id=“IBM”> <p id=“2”>a paragraph, same subject with added detail  pertinent to a user's company</p> </company>and for the second user the structural element identified as a versionof page two and classified as:

<tech level=“2”> <p id=“2”>a more technical paragraph, same subject</p></tech>

The method of FIG. 18 also includes presenting (454) the selectedstructural element (456) to the user (124). In the method of FIG. 18,presenting (454) the selected structural element (456) to the user maybe carried out, for example, by selecting a data communications protocolfor the presentation, inserting the selected structural element (withoutits classification identifiers) in a data structure appropriate to thedata communications protocol, and transmitting the data structure to theuser according to the data communications protocol. If, for example, thedata communications protocol is selected as HTTP, a data structureappropriate to the data communications protocol is an HTML document inan HTTP RESPONSE message. In such an example, presenting (454) theselected structural element (456) to the user may be carried out, forthe two exemplary versions of page two selected above, by the followingHTTP RESPONSE messages:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date:       Content-Type: text/xml Content-Length: 128<html><body><p id=“2”>a paragraph, same subject with added detailpertinent to a user's company</p> </body></html>and for the second user the structural element identified as a versionof page two and classified as:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date:       Content-Type: text/xml Content-Length: 103<html><body><p id=“2”>a more technical paragraph, samesubject</p></body></html>respectively, the first sent to the client device of the first user andthe second sent to the client device of the second user. Note that inboth transmission, the classification identifiers are omitted, <companyid=“IBM”> and <tech level=“2”> respectively.

This example of presenting (454) a selected structural element (456) toa user (124) is expressed in terms of HTML and HTTP, a stateless,asynchronous protocol. Many embodiments will statefully hold open a datacommunications connection, such as a TCP/IP connection, between apresentation server and a user client device. A Stateful Java EnterpriseSession Bean™ may be used, for example, to hold open a TCP/IP connectionimplemented with a Java socket object. Readers of skill in the art willrecognize therefore that HTML and HTTP are used for explanation, not forlimitation. In fact, any presentation application using any appropriatedata communications protocol useful for multi-media presentations may beused to present structural elements to users according to embodiments ofthe present invention. Such application may be obtained off-the-shelfcommercially or they may be specially developed for particularpresentations or kinds of presentation. An example of such anapplication available commercially is Microsoft NetMeeting™.

Examples of other data communications protocols useful with variousembodiments of the present invention include the Session InitiationProtocol specified in the IETF's RFC 2543, the Real Time StreamingProtocol as specified in the IETF's RFC 2326, the Real Time TransportProtocol of RFC 1889, and the World Wide Web Consortium's VoiceXMLprotocol specified in the 2003 document entitled “Voice ExtensibleMarkup Language (VoiceXML) Version 2.0”.

Differential Dynamic Content Delivery with Prerecorded PresentationControl Instructions

FIG. 19 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating an exemplary methodfor differential dynamic content delivery with prerecorded presentationcontrol instructions. FIG. 19 sets forth a data flow diagramillustrating an exemplary method for differential dynamic contentdelivery that includes providing (450) a session document (266) for apresentation. In the method of FIG. 19, the session document (266)includes a session grammar (258) and a session structured document(256), and providing (450) a session document (266) for a presentationis carried out by creating a session document from a presentationdocument as described in detail above in the discussion regarding FIG.16.

The method of FIG. 19 includes creating (484) a prerecorded presentationsession (482), including repeatedly recording (478) a presentationcontrol instruction (460); and recording (480) a time stamp (472) inassociation with the presentation control instruction (460). Theprerecorded presentation session of FIG. 19 is a collection of recordedpresentation control instructions associated with a collection of timestamps. As discussed above, a presentation control instruction (460) isan instruction to a presentation server (102) to carry out a particularpresentation action such as, for example, ‘display next page,’ ‘displaynext slide,’ ‘display paragraph 5,’ and so on. Recording presentationcontrol instructions with time stamps advantageously allows playback ofa prerecorded presentation session. In the method of FIG. 19, recordinga presentation control instruction (460) results in a prerecordedpresentation control instruction (470). That is, a recorded presentationcontrol instruction (460) is a prerecorded presentation controlinstruction (470).

The method of FIG. 19 includes playback of a prerecorded presentationsession. Playback of the prerecorded presentation session typicallyincludes sending prerecorded presentation control instructions to apresentation server at time intervals dictated by time stamps associatedwith the prerecorded presentation control instructions. In the exampleof FIG. 19, the presentation control instruction recorder (468) uses asystem clock (476) to time the playback of the prerecorded presentationsession.

The method of FIG. 19 includes receiving (458) a prerecordedpresentation control instruction (470) having an associated time stamp(472) and selecting (452) from the session structured document (256) aclassified structural element (402) in dependence upon the prerecordedpresentation control instruction (470) and in dependence upon userclassifications of a user participant in the presentation. In the methodof FIG. 19, selecting (452) a classified structural element (402) iscarried out by selecting a classified structural element (402) independence upon the presentation action identifier (518) and theparameters (520) from prerecorded presentation control instruction(470). In the method of FIG. 19, selecting (452) a classified structuralelement (402) also includes selecting a classified structural elementhaving an associated classification identifier (708) that corresponds tothe user classification (210).

For further explanation, consider an example using the followingexemplary session document:

  <sessionDocument>     <sessionGrammar>       <grammarElement>        <contentType id=“WP”>         <keyPhrase>page down</keyPhrase>        <presentationAction id=“PgDn”>        <structuralElementIdentifier id=“page”>       </grammarElement >    </sessionGrammar>     <sessionStructuredDocument>       <pageid=“1”>         <p id=“1”> a paragraph </p>         <p id=“2”> anotherparagraph </p>       </page>       <page id=“2”>         <p id=“3”>aparagraph on a particular subject</p>         <tech level=“2”>        <p id=“3”>a more technical paragraph, same           subject</p>        </tech>         <company id=“IBM”>         <p id=“3”>aparagraph, same subject with added detail           pertinent to auser's company</p>         </company>         <p id=“4”>a paragraph onsome other subject</p>         ... ... ...       </page>    </sessionStructuredDocument> </sessionDocument>

In this example, assume that a first user participant has in a userprofile user classifications indicating that the user is an IBM employeeand a second user has user classifications indicating that the user hastechnical ability level ‘2’. In this example, a presentation serverreceives prerecorded presentation control instructions (470) fromplayback of a presentation control instruction recorder (468). Thepresentation server (102) has the above session document installed uponit receives (458) a prerecorded presentation control instruction (470)to move to the display to the third paragraph of the session structureddocument. The presentation server then selects (452) from the sessionstructured document (256) for the first user the structural elementidentified as a version of paragraph 3 and classified as:

<company id=“IBM”> <p id=“3”>a paragraph, same subject with added detail  pertinent to a user's company</p> </company>and for the second user the structural element identified as a versionof page two and classified as:

<tech level=“2”> <p id=“3”>a more technical paragraph, same subject</p></tech>

The method of FIG. 19 also includes presenting (454) the selectedstructural element (456) to the user (124). In the method of FIG. 19,presenting (454) the selected structural element (456) to the user maybe carried out, for example, by selecting a data communications protocolfor the presentation, inserting the selected structural element (withoutits classification identifiers) in a data structure appropriate to thedata communications protocol, and transmitting the data structure to theuser according to the data communications protocol. If, for example, thedata communications protocol is selected as HTTP, a data structureappropriate to the data communications protocol is an HTML document inan HTTP RESPONSE message. In such an example, presenting (454) theselected structural element (456) to the user may be carried out, forthe two exemplary versions of page two selected above, by the followingHTTP RESPONSE messages:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date:       Content-Type: text/xml Content-Length: 128<html><body><p id=“3”>a paragraph, same subject with added detailpertinent to a user's company</p> </body></html>and for the second user the structural element identified as a versionof page two and classified as:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date:       Content-Type: text/xml Content-Length: 103<html><body><p id=“3”>a more technical paragraph, samesubject</p></body></html>respectively, the first sent to the client device of the first user andthe second sent to the client device of the second user. Note that inboth transmission, the classification identifiers are omitted, <companyid=“IBM”> and <tech level=“2”> respectively.

As noted, the method of FIG. 19 includes creating (484) a prerecordedpresentation session (482) by recording (478) a presentation controlinstruction (460) as a prerecorded presentation control instruction(470) and recording (480) along with the prerecorded presentationcontrol instruction a time stamp (472) indicating when during apresentation a particular prerecorded presentation control instructionis to be played back by, for example, sending (474) it along to apresentation server (102) for execution. One way for a user to record(478) a presentation control instruction is to simply type it into atable through a keyboard, a traditional kind of data entry in which asequence of presentation control instruction become a kind of macro orsoftware program for controlling playback of a presentation.

FIG. 20 illustrates an additional exemplary method of recordingpresentation control instruction (460) to create prerecordedpresentation control instructions (470). The method of FIG. 20 records(478) presentation control instructions (460) as they are created (462)from key phrases (516) spoken remotely by a user (124) and communicatedto a voice response server through a VOIP connection (130). The keyphrases may be spoken as part of a live presentation in which thepresentation control instructions are received (458), used to select(452) classified structural elements which are then presented (454) tothe users participating in a live presentation. Or the presentationcontrol instructions (460) may be recorded (478) off-line, as it were,without simultaneous live reception (458), selection (452), andpresentation (454) of selected structural elements (446) to users.

More particularly, the method of FIG. 20 includes creating (462) apresentation control instruction (460). In the method of FIG. 20, anexemplary presentation control instruction (460) includes a presentationaction identifier (518) and one or more optional parameters (520). Inthe method of FIG. 20, creating the presentation control instruction iscarried out by receiving (464) from a user (124) participating in thepresentation a key phrase (516) and optional parameters (520) forinvoking a presentation action and parsing (466) the key phrase (516)and parameters (520) against a voice response grammar (105) into apresentation control instruction (460). In this example, receiving (464)a key phrase (516) is carried out by use of a Voice Over InternetProtocol (“VOIP”) link (130) that carries the speech of at least oneuser (124) from the user's client device to a voice response server(104). Examples of user client devices include any computer equipmentcapable of converting input speech to digital data and transmitting itover the internet protocol to a voice response server, includinghandheld wireless devices, personal digital assistants, personalcomputers, laptop computers, and the like.

Differential Dynamic Delivery of Content Historically Likely to BeViewed

Differential dynamic content delivery has been described in thisspecification as methods and systems in which session documents areconstructed for groups of users who attend a presentation. In suchpresentations, classified structural elements typically are treated asequally likely to be presented. Indeed, in a first presentation using aparticular session document, there would ordinarily be no base ofstatistical data upon which to assign a likelihood to actualpresentation of any particular element of content. When, however, asession document is used more than once in presentations, statistics maybe kept on how particular elements of content are actually used in thepresentations, and judgment for future presentations advantageously maybe based on such statistics.

FIG. 21 sets forth a data flow diagram illustrating an exemplary methodfor differential dynamic content delivery based on historical experienceof more than one presentation of content. The method of FIG. 21 includesproviding (450) a session document (266) for a presentation. In themethod of FIG. 21, the session document (266) includes a session grammar(258) and a session structured document (256), and providing (450) asession document (266) for a presentation is carried out by creating asession document from a presentation document as described in detailabove in the discussion regarding FIG. 16.

The method of FIG. 21 includes creating the presentation controlinstruction which is carried out by receiving (464) from a user (124)participating in the presentation a key phrase (516) and optionalparameters (520) for invoking a presentation action and parsing (466)the key phrase (516) and parameters (520) against a voice responsegrammar (105) into a presentation control instruction (460). In thisexample, receiving (464) a key phrase (516) is carried out by use of aVoice Over Internet Protocol (“VOIP”) link (130) that carries the speechof at least one user (124) from the user's client device to a voiceresponse server (104). A VOIP link is a kind of computer hardware andsoftware that uses an internet protocol network instead of a traditionaltelephone network as the transmission medium for speech. VIP issometimes referred to as ‘IP telephony’ or ‘Voice Over the Internet’(“VOI”). Examples of user client devices include any computer equipmentcapable of converting input speech to digital data and transmitting itover the internet protocol to a voice response server, includinghandheld wireless devices, personal digital assistants, personalcomputers, laptop computers, and the like.

The method of FIG. 21 also includes recording a plurality ofpresentation control instructions to create a prerecorded presentationsession. Creating a prerecorded presentation session according to themethod of FIG. 21 includes repeatedly recording (478) a presentationcontrol instruction (460) and recording a time stamp in association withthe presentation control instruction (460). The prerecorded presentationsession of FIG. 19 is a collection of recorded presentation controlinstructions associated with a collection of time stamps. As discussedabove, a presentation control instruction (460) is an instruction to apresentation server to carry out a particular presentation action suchas, for example, ‘display next page,’ ‘display next slide,’ ‘displayparagraph 5,’ and so on. Recording presentation control instructionswith time stamps advantageously allows playback of a prerecordedpresentation session. In the method of FIG. 21, recording a presentationcontrol instruction results in the creation of a prerecordedpresentation control instruction (470).

The method of FIG. 21 includes playback of a prerecorded presentationsession. Playback of the prerecorded presentation session typicallyincludes sending prerecorded presentation control instructions to apresentation server at time intervals dictated by time stamps associatedwith the prerecorded presentation control instructions.

The method of FIG. 21 also includes receiving (458) a prerecordedpresentation control instruction (470) and selecting (452) from thesession structured document (256) a classified structural element (456).In the method of FIG. 21, the prerecorded presentation control (470)instruction includes a presentation action identifier (518) and optionalparameters (520) and selecting (452) a classified structural element(456) includes selecting (452) a classified structural element (456) independence upon the presentation action identifier (518) and theparameters (520). The method of FIG. 21 also includes presenting (454)the selected structural element (456) to the user. In the method of FIG.21, presenting (454) the selected structural element (456) to the usermay be carried out, for example, by selecting a data communicationsprotocol for the presentation, inserting the selected structural element(without its classification identifiers) in a data structure appropriateto the data communications protocol, and transmitting the data structureto the user according to the data communications protocol.

In the method of FIG. 21, selecting (452) from the session structureddocument (256) a classified structural element (456) includes selectinga classified structural element in dependence upon the prerecordedpresentation control instruction (470), in dependence upon userclassifications of a user participant in the presentation, and independence upon a presentation history (590) of the classifiedstructural element. A presentation history is a data structurecontaining information describing the history of presentation ofindividual classified structural elements of a session document. Forfurther explanation, FIG. 22 sets forth a line drawing illustrating anexemplary presentation history (590). The exemplary presentation historyof FIG. 22 includes a classified structural element identifier (319). Aclassified structural element identifier uniquely identifies aclassified structural element. The exemplary presentation history ofFIG. 22 includes a user classification (210). Examples of userclassifications (210) include any supported data codes describing users,including, for example “company=IBM,” “department=marketing,” “technicallevel=3,” “security level=2,” and others as will occur to those of skillin the art.

The exemplary presentation history of FIG. 22 includes a count (592) ofthe number of times the classified structural element has been presentedand count (594) of the number of times the session document containingthe classified structural element has been used in presentations. Theexample of FIG. 22 includes a presentation rate calculated as the ratioof the count (592) of the number of times the classified structuralelement has been presented and count (594) of the number of times thesession document containing the classified structural element has beenused in presentations.

In the example of FIG. 22, the session document has been used in 100presentations. During the 100 presentations the classified structuralelement identified by the classified structural element identifier“1102” and designated for display to users of the marketing departmenthas been displayed 10 times. The presentation rate for this classifiedstructural element is therefore 10%. During the 100 presentations theclassified structural element identified by the classified structuralelement identifier “1232” and designated for display to users havingtechnical level “3” has been displayed 2 times. The presentation ratefor this classified structural element is therefore 2%. During the 100presentations the classified structural element identified by theclassified structural element identifier “1456” and designated fordisplay to users having technical level “1” has been displayed 50 times.The presentation rate for this classified structural element istherefore 50%. During the 100 presentations the classified structuralelement identified by the classified structural element identifier“2345” and designated for display to users in the legal department hasnever been displayed. The presentation rate for this classifiedstructural element is therefore 0%.

For further explanation, FIG. 23 sets forth a flow chart illustrating anexemplary method of selecting a classified structural element thatincludes calculating (598) a historical presentation rate (590) for theclassified structural element and comparing (652) the historicalpresentation rate (590) to a historical presentation rate threshold(650). The method of FIG. 23 advantageously provides a mechanism forselecting and presenting to users the most likely to be viewed orhistorically most often viewed classified structural elements. In theexample of FIG. 23, calculating a presentation rate is carried out bycalculating the ratio of the count (651) of the number of times theclassified structural element has been presented and a count (653) ofthe number of times the session document containing the classifiedstructural element has been used in presentations. Such a ratio is ameasure of presentation history and may be implemented as a probability,a fuzzy logic coefficient, a likelihood, a plain ratio of counts, or anyother useful measure of presentation history as will occur to those ofskill in the art.

In the example of FIG. 23, if the presentation rate is greater (654)than the threshold (650) the classified structural element is selectedand presented to a user. In the example of FIG. 23, if the presentationrate is not greater (656) than the threshold (650) the classifiedstructural element is not selected and therefore is not presented to auser. The threshold (650) is a configuration parameter that may be setfor a user in a user profile, for a presentation in a data structurerepresenting a presentation such as the one set forth at reference 128on FIG. 2, as a configuration parameter of a content server, orotherwise as will occur to those of skill in the art. Just as a measureof presentation history may be implemented as a probability, a fuzzylogic coefficient, a likelihood, a count, a ratio of counts, and so on,so also a historical presentation rate threshold (650) may be anexpression of a probability, a fuzzy logic coefficient, a likelihood, acount, a ratio of counts or any other measure of presentation history aswill occur to those of skill in the art.

The method of FIG. 23 also includes selecting a classified structuralelement in dependence upon a ruleset (651). A ruleset (651) providesselection rules governing the selection of classified structuralelements. Consider the presentation of a page that contains multipleparagraphs each of which are classified for different users. Thepresentation rate of each individual paragraph may vary. An exemplaryruleset may be provided such that if any of the paragraphs of the pagehave a presentation rate that exceeds the presentation rate threshold,then the whole page is selected and presented to the user. Similarly, aruleset can be provided that requires all of the paragraphs in a page toexceed the threshold to select and present the page to a user.

Selecting a classified structural element in dependence upon a ruleset(651) advantageously provides increased control over the scope ofselection and display of classified structural elements.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that modificationsand changes may be made in various embodiments of the present inventionwithout departing from its true spirit. The descriptions in thisspecification are for purposes of illustration only and are not to beconstrued in a limiting sense. The scope of the present invention islimited only by the language of the following claims.

1-8. (canceled)
 9. A system for differential dynamic content deliverythe system comprising: means for providing a session document for apresentation, wherein the session document includes a session grammarand a session structured document; means for creating a prerecordedpresentation session, including repeatedly; recording a presentationcontrol instruction; and recording a time stamp in association with thepresentation control instruction; means for playing back a prerecordedpresentation session, including sending prerecorded presentation controlinstructions to a presentation server at time intervals dictated by timestamps associated with the prerecorded present control instructions;means for receiving a prerecorded presentation control instruction;means for selecting from the session structured document a classifiedstructural element in dependence upon the prerecorded presentationcontrol instruction, in dependence upon user classifications of a userparticipant in the presentation, and in dependence upon a presentationhistory of the classified structural element, wherein: the presentationhistory further comprises a classified structural element identifier, auser classification, a count of the number of times the classifiedstructural element has been presented, a count of the number of timesthe session document containing the classified structural element hasbeen used in presentations, and a historical presentation raterepresenting a ratio of the number of times the classified structuralelement has been presented and the number of times the session documentcontaining the classified structural element has been used inpresentations; and responsive to determining that the historicalpresentation rate is greater than a historical presentation ratethreshold, selecting the classified structural element; and means forpresenting the selected structural element to the user. 10-12.(canceled)
 13. The system of claim 9 further comprising means forcreating the presentation control instruction, including: means forreceiving from a user participating in the presentation a key phrase andoptional parameters for invoking a presentation action; and means forparsing the key phrase and parameters against a voice response grammarinto a presentation control instruction.
 14. The system of claim 9wherein: the prerecorded presentation control instruction includes apresentation action identifier and optional parameters; and means forselecting a classified structural element includes means for selecting aclassified structural element in dependence upon the presentation actionidentifier and the parameters.
 15. The system of claim 9 furthercomprising means for creating a session document from a presentationdocument, including: means for identifying a presentation document for apresentation, the presentation document including a presentation grammarand a structured document having structural elements classified withclassification identifiers; means for identifying a user participant forthe presentation, the user having a user profile comprising userclassifications; and means for filtering the structured document independence upon the user classifications and the classificationidentifiers.
 16. The system of claim 15 further comprising means forcreating a presentation document, including: means for creating, independence upon an original document, a structured document comprisingone or more structural elements; means for classifying a structuralelement of the structured document according to a presentationattribute; and means for creating a presentation grammar for thestructured document, wherein the presentation grammar for the structureddocument includes grammar elements each of which includes an identifierfor at least one structural element of the structured document.
 17. Acomputer program product for differential dynamic content delivery, thecomputer program product comprising: a recording medium; means, recordedon the recording medium, for providing a session document for apresentation, wherein the session document includes a session grammarand a session structured document; means, recorded on the recordingmedium, for creating a prerecorded presentation session, includingrepeatedly: recording a presentation control instruction; and recordinga time stamp in association with the presentation control instruction;means, recorded on the recording medium, for playing back a prerecordedpresentation session, including sending prerecorded presentation controlinstructions to a presentation server at time intervals dictated by timestamps associated with the prerecorded present control instructions;means, recorded on the recording medium, for receiving a prerecordedpresentation control instruction; means, recorded on the recordingmedium, for selecting from the session structured document a classifiedstructural element in dependence upon the prerecorded presentationcontrol instruction, in dependence upon user classifications of a userparticipant in the presentation, and in dependence upon a presentationhistory of the classified structural element, wherein: the presentationhistory further comprises a classified structural element identifier, auser classification, a count of the number of times the classifiedstructural element has been presented, a count of the number of timesthe session document containing the classified structural element hasbeen used in presentations, and a historical presentation raterepresenting a ratio of the number of times the classified structuralelement has been presented and the number of times the session documentcontaining the classified structural element has been used inpresentations; and responsive to determining that the historicalpresentation rate is greater than a historical presentation ratethreshold, selecting the classified structural element; and means,recorded on the recording medium, for presenting the selected structuralelement to the user. 18-20. (canceled)
 21. The computer program productof claim 17 further comprising means, recorded on the recording medium,for creating the presentation control instruction, including: means,recorded on the recording medium, for receiving from a userparticipating in the presentation a key phrase and optional parametersfor invoking a presentation action; and means, recorded on the recordingmedium, for parsing the key phrase and parameters against a voiceresponse grammar into a presentation control instruction.
 22. Thecomputer program product of claim 17 wherein: the prerecordedpresentation control instruction includes a presentation actionidentifier and optional parameters; and means, recorded on the recordingmedium, for selecting a classified structural element includes means,recorded on the recording medium, for selecting a classified structuralelement in dependence upon the presentation action identifier and theparameters.
 23. The computer program product of claim 17 furthercomprising means, recorded on the recording medium, for creating asession document from a presentation document, including: means,recorded on the recording medium, for identifying a presentationdocument for a presentation, the presentation document including apresentation grammar and a structured document having structuralelements classified with classification identifiers; means, recorded onthe recording medium, for identifying a user participant for thepresentation, the user having a user profile comprising userclassifications; and means, recorded on the recording medium, forfiltering the structured document in dependence upon the userclassifications and the classification identifiers.
 24. The computerprogram product of claim 23 further comprising means, recorded on therecording medium, for creating a presentation document, including:means, recorded on the recording medium, for creating, in dependenceupon an original document, a structured document comprising one or morestructural elements; means, recorded on the recording medium, forclassifying a structural element of the structured document according toa presentation attribute; and means, recorded on the recording medium,for creating a presentation grammar for the structured document, whereinthe presentation grammar for the structured document includes grammarelements each of which includes an identifier for at least onestructural element of the structured document.